So, been riding the judge for a while now. My last kites where Hifi 2011 (my favourite kite), Nirvana and Envy. So that's what I'm mostly comparing them against...

I used to love my Hifi 2011 kites above every other kite and the switch to Nirvana didn't work, so I kind of settled with Envy for a while untill I tried the judge. The judge have a lot of the same qualities as hifi 2011, with better relaunch, low end and larger unhooked sweet spot (in choppy gusty conditions) It's all in all a great freestyle/freeride 4 line c kite. I would call it a c'ish kite, because of the the little triangular bridle on the frontline attatchments. But then againg Hadlows ckite had the same, and people still called it a ckite. Just like the obsession pro from RRD. So what's a ckite these days? The judge is fully c shaped, that's for sure and the mini bridle is smaller than on the obsession...

The judge is stable and very easy to ride with great direct feel. It feels forgiving because of the huge depower and that makes me confident. I don't feel like I'm going to be punished evert time I fail it also drifts nicely, so when I'm coming too hot out of a loop, it doesn't fall out of the sky, before I've gotton control and lines are tight again That's very important to me!

I was concerned about the relaunch, but it really surprised me on that part. It holds up to what it promises.

The low end is great. In light wind it doesn't loose any speed when I unhook and I therefor do more powered tricks in lighter winds, which also makes it better for unhooked riding in choppy and gusty conditions. And I really love that

Slack is the same as the hifi 2011. Not the greatest ckite slack in the world, but it works just fine for me.

High end performance is also fine, but I get overpowered and my 8m2 in about 26-28knots (13-14s/m), which I'm not used to. So I could really use a 6m2, but that will have to wait untill I can effort it The kite is a mid aspect, which is great for low end, but it will have some costs for high end range. But overall (because it gets going earlier) it has a good wind range.

It boosts very well, bit it doesn't have the hangtime of a flat kite off course.

Looping the kite is really fun. It gives a good constant pull all through the loop, which I really missed when riding Envy. Loops is one of my favourite things to do, so I was really glad after my first big hooked loop. It felt so great to be back on a great looping kite again Hooked and unhooked.

If I could, I probably wouldn't change anything on the kite. Maybe make the LE a little thinner to make it a little more aggressive. I don't know... I would put a bigger valve in it though. Many brands are copying LF max flow for 2014. The next judge should really have that. It makes a difference.

And then I would make the while series different. 11-8-6m2 is a good quiver, but I like to really be in control of my sweet spot and nail the kite size perfectly. So I would love to have a quiver that says; 12-10-8-6, like I used to (apart from the 6m). I also guess that only having 3 different sizes keeps a lot of people from buying the judge. Here in Europe anyway. It's just a small range, which only works because of the great low end of the 11m2.

Gear: SCREAMER 7/9/12/14 for Free Style. Not to forget the SCREAMER 10 LTD for my one go kite.SURF 8 & 12 for the waves. RENEGADE 6.5 and 9 for all around kiting. And some times I use my son's JUNIOR PRO 4 when it blows 45+ for the waves.Just try the EPICKITES and you will see for yourself.

Thank you Mr. Larse for your feed back about the JUDGE 8 meter kite. All these info are great and are taken into great consideration for the next generation of the JUDGE models.
As you can see the JUDGE 8 is a very powerful kite. Can you imagine having the JUDGE 11 in your hands!!!
Any way the JUDGE 6m will be great for 20 to 30 knots max for unhook tricks. Above 30 knots you will need to put some depower on the J6 kite if you want to do some unhook moves.
So in few words, we designed the JUDGE 8 for (18 to 22 knots) but you can hold it to 30 knots and the JUDGE 11 was designed for (13 to 20 knots) but you can hold it to 25 knots if you want.
Now concerning your sizes....I am trying to keep 3 sizes in the JUDGE models so you don't have to spend money and this is the reason why Momi and I came out with these 3 sizes: 6 / 8 / 11 meters.
Actually the JUDGE 6 feels like an 8m. The JUDGE 8 feels like a 10m and the JUDGE 11 feels like a 13 meter kite.

Haven't tried the vegas since 2011, but steering/feedback was quite simular. The judge has a better low end though and easier relaunch. But even though two kites looks the same shape, they can be quite differet due to attachment points (bridle and active 5th) overall profile and wingtip profile. So it's really not fair to either kite to compare them from shape. But you're right; Most kiters who likes vegas would probably also like this kite

Gear: SCREAMER 7/9/12/14 for Free Style. Not to forget the SCREAMER 10 LTD for my one go kite.SURF 8 & 12 for the waves. RENEGADE 6.5 and 9 for all around kiting. And some times I use my son's JUNIOR PRO 4 when it blows 45+ for the waves.Just try the EPICKITES and you will see for yourself.

They might look the same but the profile and the bridles are very different from each other. And this makes the kite react very differently. So in few words, the North Vegas is a different kite then the JUDGE model from.
One thing for sure is that the North VEGAS has more hang time then the JUDGE.

Besides the obvious lighter weight and less drag, can you comment on the narrow strut decision at all? I tend to be partial to narrow strut & tube configurations and noticed the Judge (as well as your renegade) appear to have relatively narrow, tapered ones. Would you consider this a trend in the industry?

Gear: SCREAMER 7/9/12/14 for Free Style. Not to forget the SCREAMER 10 LTD for my one go kite.SURF 8 & 12 for the waves. RENEGADE 6.5 and 9 for all around kiting. And some times I use my son's JUNIOR PRO 4 when it blows 45+ for the waves.Just try the EPICKITES and you will see for yourself.

Poster: NYKiter
Besides the obvious lighter weight and less drag, can you comment on the narrow strut decision at all? I tend to be partial to narrow strut & tube configurations and noticed the Judge (as well as your renegade) appear to have relatively narrow, tapered ones. Would you consider this a trend in the industry?

Narrow struts are good to have but again it depends the models and what the kite was designed to do. Now concerning the Leading Edge....It's nice to have a small LE diameter but the problem with a small narrow LE is that heavier rider will tend to bend the kite when the kite is falling out of the sky and powers up again. Having a thicker LE will give you more lift but lots of drag and not as fast. So you need to find the perfect balance between all these ideas. And this is why we are using the SCREAMER 10 LTD and the RENEGADE 13 LTD so we can use different ideas for the next generation of kites.
Now to answer your question about considering this as a trend in the industry!!! Yes I believe so but again you have to know what you are doing.

Larse wrote:I would put a bigger valve in it though. Many brands are copying LF max flow for 2014. The next judge should really have that. It makes a difference.

Actually it was Cabrinha who started the whole big-valve thingy waaaay back when LF was still learning how to flush the toilet. Then - if i'm not mistaken - Ozone and LF fallowed in 2011 and others picked up the trend later or. That being said, LF's version is really far from being the "best" or "the most reliable" out there. So far I really like the re-freshed Cabrinha's and Core's ones which are a direct connection-type and don't require any adapters. Incidentally though I don't own either because some big-name (and really small-name) kite manufacturers still don't seem to get it!